vegan food in Austin TX

New India Cuisine- Vegan Indian in the heart of South Austin

You know that you are about to have a good time when a place has friendly vegan friendly on the door! Not only are they going to have vegan food, but they are going to be so friendly about it that they mentioned it twice! A friend and I recently went to New India Cuisine and I am happy to report that I think it is going to make a fabulous addition to South Austin. The mission of New India is to serve Indian flavors in a kind of Texas packaging. They have burgers, wraps, and even quesadillas on the menu but the are all the Indian version of these items. They also have standard Indian foods that we would be lost without, like curry and naan. It is a tiny little place where you can order at the counter to eat there on the 10 or so tables or take for pick-up. They share the place with a new bakery but we were disappointed to find that the bakery did not have any vegan items. It seems like New India will be the perfect place to stop and get pick-up because it is situated in the shopping center on the south east corner of Congress and Oltorf and they have biodegradable containers and a dollar off if you pick up with your bike. The first thing I noticed when walking in was the huge chalk menu that also had a glossary for all the Indian terms. It is such a great idea to have the glossary for people new to Indian food and you can tell they are really trying to make it approachable to the burger crowd that they share the block with. The menu is divided into sections, I really wanted to try the Veg Lollipops but it turns out that they are not vegan (damn you egg!) but since I could never have passed up the samosas anyway we tried them.They are called Puff Samosas and once I got them I saw why! They really look different than regular samosas and they had a different texture than what I am used to. I was a little worried but they still tasted great. I think wrapping potatoes in dough and then deep-frying them is always going to be good eating for me! The two chutneys were both really good as well, I loved the tamarind one. It was sweet which is how I like it. We also tried the Roti Roll: the Mumbai Frankie. I didn’t know what to expect there but I thought for three dollars it was worth a shot. It turned out that Mumbai Frankies are vegetable wraps with peppers and maybe even zucchini and spices. We both really liked them, it could make the best small lunch deal in town too for the price!

Finally we split the vegan Thali which wasn’t easy to share but would have been a LOT of food for one person.The menu said it was a platter of legumes masala, spinach, chana masala, potato bhaji, veg curry, dal, papad, achar, banana dessert, sol curry with Chapatti. After trying to figure out with the menu what was what we got really confused and had the guy come over and he explained that every day they do it a little different and the menu isn’t necessarily what is going to be on the thali. I thought that was kind of exciting because I like to always try new things. If you do not, don’t worry because they did have the standard Chana Masala on the menu. I loved the lentil dish and the potato dish especially the spinach was also great but I wasn’t too keen on either dessert.

Overall it was a really good experience and I am so excited to have another place to get takeout in South Austin that won’t break the bank! Hooray for New India Cuisine!

After reading your post I went there today. I’m fussy about Indian food since I’ve sampled so much in big cities here in the US and some overseas. I am happy to say that I loved it. They will be getting many future visits from me and my spouse.